Halal Bonfire Night Food: Marshmallows, Hot Dogs and Treats

Bonfire Night food is simple: something hot in your hands, something sweet, and a marshmallow on a stick if there's a fire. But two of the classics, the hot dog and the toasted marshmallow, are the two most likely to be haram. Here's what to watch for, whether you're going to a public display or doing a few sparklers in the garden.

If you're wondering whether Muslims should mark Bonfire Night at all, we cover the scholarly views in Is Bonfire Night haram? This guide is only about the food.

Marshmallows: check every bag

Marshmallows are the trickiest food of the night. They're held together with gelatine, and unlabelled gelatine can be pork, so it is doubtful. We checked the marshmallows sold by the big supermarkets, and the results were clear:

The table shows the gelatine each pack names, which is the ingredient behind the result, and the date of the Open Food Facts record it rests on. Beef gelatine isn't automatically halal. It's only halal if the cattle were slaughtered Islamically, and none of these packs showed a halal logo in the records we hold, so we mark them Doubtful.

Vegan marshmallows are set with a plant gelling agent such as carrageenan in place of gelatine; the one we checked is covered in gelatine-free sweets. Halal-certified marshmallows exist too, and the logo on the pack is what to look for. More detail in our marshmallows guide.

Hot dogs and burgers

At public displays, a hot dog from a food van may well be pork, and a burger is not halal unless the van shows that it is. Some larger events have a halal stall, so it's worth looking, and asking to see a certificate.

At home, it's easy:

• Halal sausages from a halal butcher or the halal section of a supermarket. Chicken and beef both work well in a hot dog.
• Halal beef burgers from a butcher, or make your own with halal mince.
• Vegetarian sausages if you're feeding a mixed group. Check the casing and ingredients: most are fine, but a few contain egg or cheese.

Watch out for the extras. Some crispy onions and sauces are fine, but check that nothing has been cooked in lard, and that any cheese on a burger is suitable for vegetarians. Our sausages guide explains what to look for on the pack.

Toffee apples and bonfire toffee

Traditional toffee apples and dark bonfire toffee (treacle toffee) are made from sugar, golden syrup or black treacle, butter, and sometimes vinegar. There's nothing haram in that.

The one thing to check on shop-bought toffee apples is the red colour. Some use carmine, also called cochineal or E120, which comes from insects. Scholars differ on it, and our checker avoids it by default and lets you change that in settings. Homemade toffee apples with food colouring gel are an easy way around it.

Parkin and other bakes

Parkin, the sticky ginger cake from the north of England, is made with oats, treacle, golden syrup, flour, ginger and butter. It has no ingredient we would flag as it is. Shop-bought parkin is worth a quick check for E471 or other emulsifiers without a stated source, which our checker marks as doubtful rather than haram.

Jacket potatoes, soup and chilli are all easy to make halal at home. For chilli, use halal mince and check that the stock cube is suitable for vegetarians or halal-certified.

Hot chocolate

Nothing beats a hot chocolate by the fire. Both Cadbury hot chocolates we checked came back Doubtful, as the table below shows, and the reasons are on each product page. Our page on hot chocolate and coffee drinks covers café drinks too.

If you add marshmallows on top, see the table above.

At a public display

1. Eat before you go, or take your own food in a flask and a lunch box. It's the easiest option with children.
2. Look for a halal stall at bigger events, and ask to see the certificate.
3. Chips and doughnuts can be a safe choice, but ask whether the chips are fried in vegetable oil or beef dripping, and whether the fryer is shared with pork sausages.
4. Candyfloss is just spun sugar and colouring, so it's usually fine.

Frequently asked questions

Are marshmallows halal?

Standard marshmallows are set with gelatine. In our checks, the Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons and B&M marshmallows named pork gelatine, and the Asda, Sainsbury's and Co-op ones named beef gelatine without a halal logo. Vegan and halal-certified marshmallows avoid the question.

Are toffee apples halal?

Toffee apples are made from sugar, syrup and butter, so the red colouring on shop-bought ones is the thing to check, as some use carmine (E120), which scholars differ on.

Is parkin halal?

Traditional parkin is made with oats, treacle, flour, ginger and butter. Check shop-bought parkin for emulsifiers or other additives without a stated source.

What can Muslims eat at a fireworks display?

Look for a halal food stall, or choose vegetarian options such as chips (check the frying oil), doughnuts and candyfloss. Bringing your own food is the simplest choice.

Picking something up on the way? Scan it and the checker will flag what needs a second look.